Espanyol vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s La Liga title defense continues at the RCDE Stadium as they lock horns with relegation-threatened Espanyol.

Espanyol held Sevilla to a 1-1 draw last weekend to inch closer toward safety but still finished the round in the drop zone, albeit only one point adrift of 17th-placed Alaves. Despite only losing once across their last six league outings, a high volume of draws (W1, D4) remains an issue for ‘Los Periquitos.’ However, the impending home return should encourage head coach Manolo Gonzalez, knowing his men have won 90% of their La Liga points this season at the RCDE Stadium (18/20). Increasing that tally against runaway leaders Real Madrid could prove a tall order, though the hosts can fall back on a decent record of two wins from their last five home league H2Hs (L3). But five consecutive La Liga matches without a clean sheet can’t inspire much confidence. 

Meanwhile, Real Madrid maintained their purple patch with a landslide 3-0 Champions League win at Brest during midweek, stretching their winning streak in all competitions to five games since a 5-2 humbling at the hands of arch-rivals Barcelona in the Super Cup final. Remarkably, Carlo Ancelotti’s side netted 3+ goals in four of those five wins, including a 3-0 rout of Valladolid last weekend. That result marked Los Blancos’ fourth La Liga win in a row, firing them four points clear of runners-up Atletico Madrid. Leaving the home comforts of the Santiago Bernabeu shouldn’t faze Real Madrid much, as they’ve only lost one away league game this season (W6, D1) while winning three of the last four (D1) – all of which saw them score 2+ goals.